Real fights don't make you look good.

Sveta mused on that fact, no pun intended, while she was being thrown against a garbage bin and elbowed herself in the ribs in the process. She also briefly considered putting on some body armor next time, looks be damned, as she was kicked in the kidney by the guy she was doing such a splendid job of taking down.

Sarcasm.

Sveta swore in Russian and pushed herself off the stinking metal surface, spinning around, and going shoulder to stomach to tip the guy over.

As bad as the brawl started out, Sveta was staring to feel the effects of her training, half left over from the X-men, and half self-taught. A series of knee hits to various parts of his body made the man stagger back just enough that Sveta finally got to draw a gun on him.

"Freeze."

Funny, she thought, looking for a vantage point right at this moment, it would have been hard to guess who was the victim and who was the villain here...

The Zambonis... He couldn't say much for the name, but few people were brave enough to draw comparisons between them and the ice rink cleaners in public; they were likely to go missing. This family, and everyone involved with them, stood out as the most morally frightening group of individuals in New York. They were involved in contract killings, drug running, human trafficking, joy torture, and just about everything else the public was too afraid to point out to officers when they saw it happening.

Indeed, Barty Zamboni had been on the news after his recent rape trial dismissal proudly announcing they he was... Untouchable.

As far as the Judge was concerned, everyone in the building he was staring at was guilty, and they were all going to be sentenced tonight.


His fist shuddered a little, hinting at the energy he'd gathered before coming here. He steeled it with a clench; The Judge didn't shake, that was the masochist. The steel clad mutant jumped to another roof in order to get a better perspective on his target; he'd been spying this place for weeks, preparing for the Judge's final outing... Andrea was nearly done with all of the red tape and paperwork; she would be back soon, and he would be too busy being happy to be the Judge anymore. He figured if he was going to end it, he might as well end it taking out the biggest, baddest criminals in the city.

As he walked to the edge of the roof he'd selected for his point of entry, he heard the sound of a struggle. The vigilante crouched down low, and peeked out in order to get a scope of the situation... And saw a woman apparently beating the living daylights of a man. That was odd.. Was she a family member? No, he knew all of their faces... In fact, the man looked like one of the body guards he's seen coming and going from this estate.

Interesting.

"You don't want to pull that trigger... There are many armed guards in the area, it would be a death sentence for you..." He spoke from above.

He landed a moment later, right behind the man, who was looking about, confused and seeking a way out. The Judge booted him the the back of the leg, causing him to collapse. He then grabbed him by the hair to a sitting position. "Suspect... Name unknown. Crime, defending the Zamboni family, multiple counts of murder, aiding and abetting. Sentence: Death."

"W-Wai-"pop!

And with that, their little friend was gone. He now looked up at the woman with the gun. "Why are you here?" She held the gun with familiarity; she knew how to use it, and it was likely hers. He was ready to kill her at a moments notice if she answered wrongly, or started shooting.

The man landed heavily behind the thug, and Sveta froze. One vigilante recognized another, even without the flashy costumes and all the rest. She also recognized him as someone way out of her league.

>>"You don't want to pull that trigger... There are many armed guards in the area, it would be a death sentence for you... Suspect... Name unknown. Crime, defending the Zamboni family, multiple counts of murder, aiding and abetting. Sentence: Death."

Sveta winced as the man crumpled to the ground. She was a vigilante, sure; she also liked to think of herself as hardened and confident. But there was nothing to prepare her for watching a guy get...
... ugh.

>>"Why are you here?"

"Same as you I guess" she sighed, holstering the gun and holding up her hands as a sign of peace "Except, I hoped to get answers from him before he died. I guess I'll have to go look for dem elsewhere." she added with a small frown, glancing at the building, than back at him.

"Who are you?"

What... What was that?


Did he just get a rush from killing someone? He stared down at the dead body... His heart was racing... He felt... exhilarated... This wasn't right! His teeth chattered. He quickly clenched his jaw, and looked up at the woman across from him. There was no time to think about the sickening idea of enjoying an execution; They were on the doorstep of the most dangerous family in the city. The woman stowed her weapon, and the Judge grabbed the body, hoisting it into the dumpster unceremoniously.

"Same as you I guess. Except, I hoped to get answers from him before he died. I guess I'll have to go look for dem elsewhere." A vigilante... With an accent. How she said it wansn't nearly as important as what she said.

She came HERE to get answers? Did she know where she was? Maybe she was hoping to knock the man out and take him to another location for interrogation? Interesting... He admittedly didn't often pay attention to how other vigilantes did things; He had his own processes. For example; he knew everything he wanted to know about this place before he ever stepped a foot near it.

"The drug shipment arrived last night. I have kept watch on the area. Nothing large enough to be the shipment has left; it's here, and thus the Zamboni's have sealed their fate. They will die today, and the I will destroy the shipment." He spoke in a gravelly voice. He still wasn't sure if this woman was really what she claimed to be, but he wasn't worried; if she tried to attack him, she would die.

"You should go home; I- someone's coming."

He grabbed her and went the only direction that was safe to go; through the door, and into the building of the Zamboni's cover business.

A car could be heard pulling into the Alley; he'd felt it speeding up. A gauntleted hand reached up to cover the woman's mouth as doors opened and shut. "Heh... Yup, blood stains... @#$^er's been here alright... Hey, lookit that! He put Lou in the dumpster! Tsk Tsk Tsk... Poor sap... We got him now, though! You guys ready to make some money?"

"A trap..." He muttered. Wait a second... he could feel them... He could feel the man walking outside... the click of a walkie talkie. "He's in the building, guys... Who ever brings me the Judge's in the head gets Lou's cut!" His hand slowly slid from her face as the sensation of feeling so much overwhelmed him... It was almost like... that dream. He felt bodies... So many of them... they were closing in on the building; the building itself was mostly empty; how? How did they get out without him seeing? As quickly as the burst of power came, it was gone, though. The Judge stumbled back, stopping only when the wall was in his way. "What... Are you?" His normally powered sixth sense kicked in. "No time... We are surrounded, I'm sorry, but it's likely you will die, unless you are bullet proof." He turned to head deeper into the building. "I can make no promises, but if you stay near me, you might live." It was a lie. He'd felt how many people were out there; he was fairly certain they'd managed to actually pull in more hired guns than he could reasonably kill.

"I felt a room down the way. There are people in it, and they are alone; maybe we can catch them off guard." Give the girl hope, Saph. At least she wouldn't die without putting up a fight.

Everything was happening way too fast for Sveta's taste.

>>"The drug shipment arrived last night. I have kept watch on the area. Nothing large enough to be the shipment has left; it's here, and thus the Zamboni's have sealed their fate. They will die today, and the I will destroy the shipment. You should go home; I- someone's coming."

Drugs? Why was he talking about drugs?...
Not that Sveta was all that surprised that the dirtbags that smuggled and sold women would also dabble in other forms of crime. That was to be expected. The other vigilante, whoever he was, was here for the drugs. That was his business. Sveta's was the girls.

Before she could tell him that, however, there was the sound of many people arriving, and she was dragged into the building. A hand clamped over her mouth. She knew the other vigilante was a mutant... this could go really well, or really bad, really fast.

>>"He's in the building, guys... Who ever brings me the Judge's in the head gets Lou's cut!"

The Judge. She had heard that name on the streets. No one had ever mistaken her for him, though. But she knew the name.

>>"No time... We are surrounded, I'm sorry, but it's likely you will die, unless you are bullet proof. I can make no promises, but if you stay near me, you might live."

She followed him deeper into the building, almost running to catch up. She could see him staggered when he let go of her and her powers took effect.

>>"I felt a room down the way. There are people in it, and they are alone; maybe we can catch them off guard."

"Girls." she finally found her voice in all the rush "I'm here for de girls. Dey smuggle in and sell them to the highest bidder. I'm not here for the drugs. I'm here for them."

Then again if they were going to die, that might become entirely beside th epoint anyway.

"I boost powers. I can make you stronger."

The lights went out. They'd cut the power... Deeper in the building, a backup generator could be heard auto-starting. Dim lights slowly flickered on, and wavered constantly, as if the old generator would give up any second. They needed to hurry deeper into the building.

"Girls."

Despite the almost atmospheric momentum he'd been gathering, the single word gave him pause. The armored man turned to face her, his metallic faceplate glinting in the low light.

"I'm here for de girls. Dey smuggle in and sell them to the highest bidder. I'm not here for the drugs. I'm here for them."

He stared at her with his color contact covered eyes for a while longer, and then his eyes found a spot on the ground. Everything worked its way out in his head... Of course. It had never been a drug shipment... That's why he hadn't seen any cargo being moved, it was walking in and out every day. How couldn't he have seen this? He'd thought this woman an amateur, but he'd been so wrong...

"I boost powers. I can make you stronger."

That seemed to snap him out of it. "Oh course. My senses were enhanced when I touched you... I don't think that would be enough, though... It only seemed to work while we were touching."

He looked down to his gloved hand, and then looked up as he heard a loud bang on the door they'd entered. They were breaking in. He started down the hallway toward the room he'd felt before... If there were girls here, he would find them and free them; maybe they could escape in the chaos. "How did you find out about the women?" He asked in a hurried tone as he turned around a corner, and continued down the hall... Almost there.

Moments later, he stopped at a room on the corner of a t-crossing. It had two doors... "That's the room... They will have guards keeping an eye on their investments... You good with that gun? I can draw there attention to one door, and you can take them out."

Without confirming the plan, he walked on over, and kicked one of the doors open.

>>"Oh course. My senses were enhanced when I touched you... I don't think that would be enough, though... It only seemed to work while we were touching."

"Dat's not true, actually" Sveta supplied as she kept pace with the masked man. He seemed more preoccupied with their mission though. Hopefully they could do this without having to punch holes in the wall...

>>"How did you find out about the women?"

"Long story" Sveta summarized shortly. She was not going to go into detail about skeleton detectives and random encounters.

>>"That's the room... They will have guards keeping an eye on their investments... You good with that gun? I can draw there attention to one door, and you can take them out."

"Sure" she pulled out her gun and kept her position at the other door while the guy went to kick one in. Obviously he was all business, and confident he could do this without the boosting.

As the yelling and shooting started on the other end, Sveta kicked down the other door and got a good line of sight of the backs of the guards running against the masked vigilante. She fired a couple of shots, hitting legs and shoulders rather than accidentally shooting her ally, then turned to the girls huddling in a corner.

"Go!"

The girls went when she told them to. They screamed, they ran, and for all the Judge knew, they got out.

The guards? They moved about on the floor, struggling with their new nonfatal wounds.

A metal mask turned toward the would-be vigilante before him. "Nice shooting... now finish them..." He stared for a moment. "Think of what they have done... what they have allowed. They are no more human than you or I. We fight for justice, and they stand on the side of evil. Do it."

He turned to usher the last woman, out, and then paused, reaching over to grab the russian woman's shoulder.

His senses expanded again...

They were swarming the place... Still, they let the women pass' perhaps they thought they could just round them up afterward.

"We... don't stand a chance... too many..." He let go, and the breath rushed into his lungs again as he stumbled away from her.

"You said there is more to your power than I guessed... If there is anything you can do to improve our odds... Do it now."

This was hopeless... What was that, 100 men? Who hired 100 men to kill a couple vigilantes? Any moment now an unfathomable hail of bullets would rip through the walls, and them... He was good, but he wasn't that good; they would most assuredly die a very painful death.

Damn... she was almost here... He was so close to having Andrea in his arms, and now it would all be for naught... One last job... What an idiot.

>>"Nice shooting... now finish them... Think of what they have done... what they have allowed. They are no more human than you or I. We fight for justice, and they stand on the side of evil. Do it."

"No" Sveta said simply, looking at the men lying on the floor. The police could take care of them, if they made it out alive, and if they didn't, well, they probably have learned their lesson anyway. Some of them might be crippled permanently, and no use to their boss anymore.

She looked up when the Judge touched her shoulder, trying to tap into her powers.

>>"We... don't stand a chance... too many... You said there is more to your power than I guessed... If there is anything you can do to improve our odds... Do it now."

"I can give you ten minutes of the strongest boost I have" she said, looking up "Kiss me."

The Judge's eyes narrowed as she refused to kill the men. That was okay. He would just hunt them down later. She was soft; one of those idealists... Sad. He saw potential in her, too. Not that it mattered. He silently hoped that his body would be unrecognizable; enough bullets could do that... As long as Andrea didn't know what he did... who he was...

He should have stopped this earlier. He never should have been the Judge at all.

"I can give you ten minutes of the strongest boost I have." What was that? Hope? She really did have more untapped power? He might be able to get out of this alive? Wow... what a selfish thought.

"Kiss me."

what?

". . . What?"

He was still touching her. He felt slides being pulled back, rounds being chambered. He had to kiss her. That was how her power worked... He... He had to kiss someone else if he ever wanted to see Andrea again...

Click-click!

No time. He pulled a bladed J from his sleeve pouch, and tossed it into the air; the light on them went out.

And then Muse would feel lips against her own. It wasn't a kiss of passion, or warmth, but cold determination. One. Two. Three.

Bullets started ripping through the walls. He broke away.

Dear... God...

He felt... EVERYTHING He wanted to scream, he wanted to laugh, he wanted to break it all. He COULD break it all... He knew how. Just ask him! But. BUT! but.. but what? But people were trying to kill him! Right, that! BASTARDS!

His voice rang out, as if it were echoing from his mouth unnaturally. "Get.... Down..." Yeah... There was someone here who shouldn't die, right? Gotta remember that. His teeth chattered under his mask, and the noise echoed eerily about the room His mask was replaced, the chattering stopped.

The aforementioned bullets never reached them. They bent and curved through the air, paper in the wind. Saphirus was gone. The Judge, a paragon of justice, was all that remained. His mind calmed as the bullets hit the back wall, neatly avoiding everyone he deemed worthy of living. The men the woman had spared were not on that list.

Barty Zamboni was standing next to 30 men. The walls were less wall than hole in front of him. He was laughing as the light from the hallway lit up the recently darkened room. "Heh... He thought puttin the lights out would save him! What an idiot!"

But wait... The Judge was there, but he wasn't filled with holes...

He pushed off of the floor, and his feet left it. Instead, he stood on air. Barty stepped back. "OHshi... RELOAD YOU IDIOTS! HE CAN'T KILL US ALL!" By will of pure force, the Judge started moving toward them, He could feel the men's hearts beat faster. Some ran. They might be the only survivors. Some reloaded quickly. They fired. He let the bullets fly straight, and greedily sapped them of their energy as they neared.

"Bartholomew Zamboni. You stand today, accused of murder, human trafficking, and rape, amongst other charges. I have found you guilty of all charges."

"What the- Kill him. KILL HIM! F&@$# MAN THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!"

"I sentence you and all of your men.. to death."

Barty pulled his own gun, and everyone fired. What else could they do? The hail of bullets was extraordinary. They fed him. They fed justice. Justice bit the hand that feeds.

The last thing Barty Zamboni ever saw was the Judge suddenly bursting toward him.

Just moments later, the room was painted red. Bullet casings littered the floor. A shaking hand reached up to touch his mask... His glove was gone... where had it gone? He reached away, and looked at his fingers... blood... It was everywhere...

He'd flown through Barty... Why had he done that? A man stirred. He absent mindedly touched him, and dumped a semi-truck crash worth of force into the area of a finger tip. More red. He hadn't even meant to do that... His teeth chattered again...

Slowly, he turned his head... Wasn't there someone who wasn't supposed to die? Why not? Where was she? Oh. There she was... He almost forgot he could feel her... Heh... Silly him. Well, off to kill her, now! Oh wait... wasn't there something important he had to do first? Oh, right! "What are you guilty of?" The echo in his deep, growling voice was slowly dying down, as if the unreal force she'd pulled from him was slowly ebbing away.

Did that make him incapable of murdering her for no good reason? Not at all; his mind wasn't exactly in the right place right now.

And that, kids, is what you call an overkill.

>>"Get.... Down..."

Sveta ducked and lay on the ground while the bullets tore through the room and mysteriously missed her. She covered her face and curled up in a ball; everything she could have used for a cover was long gone or broken. The guy did not kiss her for more than a few seconds; he only had minutes to end this before it all went to hell.

It was more than enough.

When the shooting and screaming stopped, Sveta looked up and then promptly clapped her hand over her mouth to keep herself from throwing up. The room, or what was left of it, was painted red. So was the Judge. He was visibly shaking as he turned to look at her, and the look made Sveta scramble to her feet and away from him.

>>"What are you guilty of?"

"Saving your life" she said, holding up her empty hands "Dat was probably more boost than you needed. You'll come down in a minute. Just... take it easy."

Hopefully no one else had to die plastered over the walls.

"Saving your life. Dat was probably more boost than you needed. You'll come down in a minute. Just... take it easy."

He stepped toward her.. His body, seemingly at random intervals, shook so fast that it looked more like vibration. He was walking with his own tow legs now, and when his armored side touched the ground it cracked beneath his feet just a little with every step.

"You... I remember..." Slowly but surely he made his way toward her. Any bodies that got in his way practically dissipated. His eyes would be dark behind his mask; as he got close, an unnatural warmth radiated from him. "Weak... you could not kill them... They would kill the innocent given the chance... and you spared them..."

Would she run? Would it do any good?

"You disgust me."

His shaking hand reached out to try and touch her forhead, but he stopped just shy... Was he hesitating? He looked around the room for a second, and then to her, before a sudden gasp of air was heard beneath the mask, and the dark form suddenly jumped straight up into the air, swatting off the ceiling in his way as if it were a shower curtain.

It was that moment that the bullet and damage ridden building started to realize it's pain... the walls creaked and shuddered, hinting at an imminent collapse.

* * *

The Judge landed half a mile away, finding himself in a small park, devoid of live. The boost was wearing off, and with it's retreat came the realization of what he'd done... what he'd nearly done...

He ripped off his blood covered mask, and gulped up air as if it were some rare resource he hadn't had enough of in ages. A fist pounded against the ground, venting some of the unreal amount of energy he felt buzzing throughout his body. Dirt clods flew as he frantically stripped off the next piece of armor...

Half of his armor was off before he realized he'd been sobbing the whole time... For a short time he'd been a monster. Never had he felt so powerful, and so small at the same time...

The Judge was before him, and he, down to his skivs... The mask, still tinted red, stared into his soul, silently damning him... He buried it.

Saphirus swore that day to never again take up the mantle of the Judge, as long as he lived.

It was such a sad lie.